Education by Reporting

This Woman Went Homeless to Become a Multimillion-Dollar Venture Capitalist

Arlan Hamilton knows a secret of Silicon Valley. As unusual and radical as the culture there is, the majority of it is still owned by market dominating white men. While it’s well-know that women, minorities, and LGBT are vastly underrepresented, many investors (who are often white men), do not understand the great potential entrepreneurs that these people have.

In the months she’d spent getting Backstage Capitol up and running, she was living the couch-surfing life and focusing all her resources on finding some investor to write her the first check. However, convincing other investors wasn’t easy, as the reason these investors weren’t investing in diversity was the reason she couldn’t get any capital either.

But when she got one big name from tech on board, her homeless days ended, and her dream was on its way to being realized. Being focused on diversity is her advantage, as these groups are often dismissed by traditional investors.